Rutgers’ Black and Latino Students Recognized at 23rd Annual Rites of Passage Ceremony May 13
WHAT: 23rd annual Rites of Passage Ceremony for Rutgers’ black and Latino students
WHO: Several hundred black and Latino Rutgers seniors in academic regalia and Juanita Jones Daly, Rutgers alumna (Engineering ’93) and founder of the Rites of Passage ceremony. She is executive operations director of the Agape Family Worship Center and executive director, Impact 21 Community Development Corp., both in Rahway. Participating deans, faculty and administrators include Felicia McGinty, vice chancellor for student affairs; Salvador Mena, associate vice chancellor for student affairs; Peter March, executive dean, School of Arts and Sciences; Prosper Godonoo, director of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center; Carlos Fernandez, director of the Center for Latino Arts and Culture; Associate Dean Ilene Rosen, Student Services, School of Engineering; and Professor Kathleen Scott, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, School of Arts and Sciences, among others.
WHERE: A tent will be erected in the Scarlet Lot near the Louis Brown Athletic Center (RAC), 83 Rockafeller Road, Livingston Campus, Piscataway
BACKGROUND: This ceremony represents one of the many ways that the Rutgers community acknowledges and celebrates the academic achievements of students of color, particularly those of African-American and Latin-American heritages. The ceremony comprises remarks, poetry readings, musical selections and the presentation of Kente stoles. These colorful, embroidered ceremonial cloths, hand-woven in the town of Bonwire in the Ashanti region of Ghana, are meant to connect these graduates with their ancestors. To learn more, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3P1ZqpKIWw.